Power-operated gun turret for aircraft



Aug. 15, 1950 L. G. FRISE 2,519,129

POWER OPERATED GUN TURRET FOR AIRCRAFT Filed March 25, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I fwanr lash 6 E2229 1 7 J W 9/- QEZ ZrZZZS Aug. 15, 1950 L. G. FRISE POWER OPERATED GUN TURRET FOR AIRCRAFT 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1944 I 266%? 6% E2196 zr MA on, 9

Aug.l5, 1950 L. G. FRISE 2,519,129

POWER OPERATED GUN TURRET FOR AIRCR'AFT Filed March 23, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheeh a Aug. 15; 1950 1.. G. FRlSE 2,519,129

POWER OPERATED GUN TURRET FOR AIRCRAFT Filed March 23, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 fnw'fir lash Q 1 7 696 Patented Aug. 15 1950 UNITED STATES FATE-NT QF FICE Besiie George firise, firistol, England,- assignoi- .to" The Br istgiAerqglane Qompany Limited; Brisk tol,- England, a; British company AiipiiatiiiiiMar'cfi 2a, ls ii sefiai N's; 52"13'1'51- In Great Britain March 25,1943

This invention relates to power-operatedgun turrets of the kind mounted on top of the fuse were of an aircraft.- 4 7 According to the present invention a poweroperated g-un turret comprises an upper portion which is circular in plan and wit-hin whic h two guns or groups of gunsare mounted in substan tiaily parallel relationship one on either side thereof withsufiicient space between them to accommodate the head and shouldersof a} gunner; and a lower portion; of which the width; transverse to the axes of the guns is reduced to the minimum necessary to accommodate the lower part of the gunners; body; In this construction the upper part ofthe turret is outside the fuselage and can be large enough to accommodatejwo cannonor say four machine guns while the lower part e xtends into the fuiage but causes the least obstruction therein. It is an important advantage of construction that,

when the guns are pointing fore-arid-aft' of th aircraft,- matters of the crew" 510% aI6fi the fuselage east the turret with ease twist to the} fieir'r'wii'ssof rare-ever stress. Y Frefrably a seat 161 the gunner i's' trdvias in the lower tart of the turret; together with means for storing 'live' ariifi'iuriitidfl beit's was the seat. 6e ef fidea' for fedifi" th hlts {rewards in fiber; of" the g ufiners s'a and thus between his legs, simmer; dfitwafdli t6 the g'iiii's which are arranged each to be f'd frorii ifin s'id. 1

r'enioi'falhi container" that? l A side of the turret to recite'th sfintainfnun or'i and'h'lts.

Power" operated traversing and elevating iiie'chafn ifi-is'fireferablyarraiigdat' the from of the "i part of the tenet and within the oteialf width of ei'ther'fiart. I A

According to a feature of the intention the lower part of the turret comprises a rear-aligns plat forrn to receive stimulants bdis' and 661inected to the upfir" pa t of the turret by a pair" ofp llars at the front of the plasma and a single pillar at one rear corner" of; the nations so as to rears" one side and the rear open for accessto th'e wire i h saturates to a Fthef feature of the interitiori there is provided; on either sid of the turfret'" a bracket to sfiiiiioft a g'iifi of guns which (o1. sis-5a brackets are pivotedat their outer sides on the upper part of the turret and there is also pro vlded a torque rod or tube interconnecting the two brackets so that they move together and arc-shaped to conforn'r" closely to the circular contour or wall of the upper part of the turret. The sight is mounted on the centre of this torque tube,- thus dispensing with any driving linkage aridavoiding relative backlash between guns and sight:

A specific embodimentof the" presentinvention will now be described by was of example with reference to the accompanying drawings of which- V Figure 1 is a. pia'rr View ofthe power operated gun turret; the gunner beingshown in position insaid turret;

Figure 2 is a view in the directionof the arrow A shown inFigure 1: r 4

Figure 3 is aview the direction of the arrow B shown in Figure 1 and Figure 4 is a" section on the line a? clearly shownin Figures 1 and 2') is circular inplan View and dome shaped in elevation.

Mpun-ted" inthe turret ii) are a pair of cannon;

I3. I The gun-cradle and breech mechanism; oi

eachcannonwhich is enerally indicated at [5 lies within; the cupola i2, whilst the barrel [4 thereoiextends' through a gun slot in said cupola. The diameter of the upper portion oiihe turret (that is ofthe cupola and its supporting structure) is such that suificient space is pro- I vided between the guns to accommodate the head anid shoulders f t h;e is c'le'arh'l" shown in Figure 1.

were the vriiesi series fab "r S's-d" bracket extends upwardly in the outer side of its cannon and carries a bearing It by which the bracket is pivoted to the turret structure. The bearing I8 is carried by an upright l9 which is secured to a rotating ring 29. The brackets I are connected by a shallow U-outline torque tube 2| which extends between said brackets closely adjacent the inner wall of the cupola 12 as shown in Figure 1.

It will be appreciated that since the majority of the parts of the turret described above lie within the cupola they will be disposed above the fuselage of the aricraft. The cupola l2 and the cannons 53 are mounted for rotation upon the ring 29, a suitable bearing 22 (Figure 4) being provided to support said ring from a structure 23 secured to the fuselage. Attached to the ring 29 and depending from it is a skirt 24 which The lower part of the turret comprises a substantially rectangular platform 25 (Figure 1) which is connected to the skirt 24 by two pillars 26 (Figures 1 and 3) at the front edge of said platform and a pillar 2'! (Figures '1 and 2) closely adjacent the rear edge of said platform. The length dimension of the platform 25 is parallel to the axes of the cannon and is nearly equal to the diameter of the skirt 24. The width of the platform is sufficient to accommodate two ammunition boxes 28 (Figure 2) which are arranged side by side upon the platform. The gunners seat 29 is arranged upon the platform 25 with sufficient clearance for the ammunition boxes to pass beneath it and is supported by means of a pair of tie-rods 30 which extend from bracket 3! upwardly and outwardly to a sheet of armour plating 32 to which they are attached. The bracket 3! is carried by a frame 13! which lies between the ammunition boxes 28 and is supported by the platform 25. The seat is carried by tubes 33 which are pivoted at 34 to said rods 39, the position of the seat being adjusted by means of a ratchet 35 supported by the frame ML The skirt 24 is cut away. as at 36immediately over the rear corner of the platform 25 which is unsupported bya pillar from the skirt.

-The disposition of the pillars 2B, 21 in conjunction with the cut away portion of the skirt 24 enables the gunner to-enter the turret. To do this he inserts his head and shoulders through the rear end of the turret beneath the cut away portion of the skirt and then brings one leg over the ammunition boxes and the seat so that it lies on the side of the ammunition boxes which is adjacent the pillar 21. He then draws his other so that they are inseparable but so that they can move relatively to each other. The construction is such as to permit the guideway to be twisted about its long axis and also to be independently curved over its length. Each guideway 31 at its point of attachment to its ammunition box is such that the ammunition belt leaves the box in a plane transverse to the axis of the cannon and between the pilots legs. Both guideways 31 are twisted through 90 so that the ammunition belts before reaching the cannon will lie parallel to the axis of the cannon. Each beltpasses from its associated guideway 31 into a feed-assistor device 38. This device is immediately brought into operation when the guns are fired to draw the belt of ammunition from the ammunition box and through guideway 31 and to deliver it towards the cannon. In this way the excessive loads which would otherwise be imposed upon the feed mechanism of the cannon are taken by the device 33 and the feed mechanism of the cannon operates under lightly loaded conditions. The ammunition belts from the feed-assistor 38 pass through a guide 39 which directs the ammunition belt towards the cannon (see Figure 2).

Each cannon I3 ejects the spent ammunition and the broken ammunition belt downwardly through chutes 49 and 54 (Figures 3) and into a collapsible container 4! which is-supported on' together and the other is shown in the collapsed position. In order that the gunner may have'access to the turret it is necessary that the container M which lies on the rear side of the platform as shown in chain dotted lines in Fig. 1

at which he enters the turret is collapsed as described above.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that the lower part of the turret is only of sufficient width to accommodate the gunner and that the ammunition boxes 28 are accommodated within this width. Accordingly when the turret is rotated so that the cannon lie parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage; the plat form does not interfere with the movement of the crew along the fuselage on either side of the leg into the turret so that it lies on the opposite side of the ammunition boxes. upon the ammunition boxes with his legs on either side of them and his'head and shoulders between the cannon. The 'entry' of the gunner is only made possible bythe particular arrangement of support for the-lower platform described above in'which one side and'the rear ofthe platform are unobstructed by a rear pillar.

'The ammunition belts pass'out of the boxes 28 and into a flexible guideway 31.

He is then seated The latter: isbuiltup from'a plurality of separate elements of rectangular outline which are joined together the platform 25.

turret, In certain cases it may be found desirable to collapse the spent ammuntion containers 4i in order more easily to permit movement of the crew past the turret.

The containers 4| are detachable from the lower portion of the turret and in this way they The mechanism for traversing the turret and elevating the cannon is arranged over'the front end of the platform (that is beneath the arc-f shaped torque tube 2|) and within the width of March 20, 1943, now Patent No. 2,464,654 dated v The traversing and elevating mechanism is 'of the kind described in United States patent application Serial No. 479,947 filed arch 15, 1949, and comprises'a separate elec acreage tric motor forieaoh movement and. a motor-generator set. The motor-generator set 42 is arranged: horizontally below platform 25 (Figures 2 and fi) whilst the two motors 41 and 51 are arranged with their axes vertical one on either side of the pillars 26 (Figure 3) The traversing motor 43 drives through a reduction gearing contained-within a housing 44, a gear wheel 45 which meshes with a fixed gear ring 46 (Figure 4) formed integral with the structure 23. The ele- I vating motor 4''? drives through a reduction gearing disposed within a housing 48 an elevating screw 49 co-operating with a nut 50 pivoted on a: bracket151i carried by the torque tube 2|.

Thecut-out gear 56 for interrupting the fire of the cannon when the latter are brought to bear upon a part of the aircraft structure, is disposed between the pillars 26 over the front end of the platform.

The sighting apparatus 5| is carried centrally between the cannon by the torque tube 2| within the cupola l2. The control handle 52 by which the traverse of the turret and the elevation and firing of the guns is controlled is located above the ammunition boxes and between the guide channels 3'! so as to be in a position convenient to the gunner.

The electric supply to the turret is effected through slip rings mounted centrally of the turret on the platform within a housing 53.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a gun turret which can be rotated, the only external connections being the leads for supplying electric power to the motor-generator set 42, and which, while being of sufficient size to accommodate two cannon, causes the minimum of obstruction within the fuselage and in particular allows the crew to move along the fuselage when the gun turret is rotated so that the cannon point fore-and-aft of the aircraft.

I claim:

1. A gun turret for an aircraft comprising an upper circular portion, two belt-fed guns mounted in the circular portion in substantially parallel relationship one on either side thereof with sufficient space between them to accommodate the head and shoulders of a gunner and arranged each to be fed from the inner side, a rectangular platform to receive two ammunition boxes side by side, a pair of pillars depending from the circular portion of the turret and supporting one end of the platform therefrom, a single pillar depending from the circular portion of the turret and supporting one corner of the other end of the platform therefrom, a seat for the gunner supported on the platform at a height permitting of ammunition boxes being placed on the platform below it, and means for leading an ammunition belt from each ammunition box on the platform upwardly in front of said seat and then outwardly to a separate one of the guns.

2. A gun turret for an aircraft comprising an upper circular portion, two belt-fed guns mounted in the circular portion in substantially parallel relationship one on either side thereof with sufficient space between them to accommodate the head and shoulders of a gunner and arranged to be fed each from its inner side, a platform arranged to support two ammunition containers side by side, means supporting the platform from the circular portion, a seat for the gunner supported by the platform at a height permitting of ammunition containers being arranged side by side on the platform below the seat, means for leading an ammunition belt upwardly in front 6 at the seamed than outwardly to the guns, are collapsible containers detachably mounted one on each side of the iower portion of the turret, and guide means leading theammunition belt and spent ammunition from the outer side of each gun into the collapsible container on the same side of the turret, said means supporting the platform from the circular portion comprising a pair of pillars depending from the circular portionof the turret and supporting one end of the; platform therefrom, and a single pillar depending from the circular portion of the turand supporting one corner of the other end of the platform therefrom.

. 3. A- gun turret for an aircraft comprising an upper circular portion, two belt-fed guns mounted in a circular portion in substantially parallel relationship one on either side thereof with sufficient space between them to accommodate the head and shoulders of a gunner and arranged to be fed each from its inner side, a rectangular platform the length of which is parallel to the plane of the guns when they are in a horizontal position and the width of which is not more than the distance between the guns, means supporting the platform from the circular portion so that it is below and between the guns, two rectangular ammunition boxes resting on the platform closely side by side and within the width of the platform, a seat for the gunner supported by the platform at a height permitting the ammunition boxes to be below the seat, means for leading an ammunition belt upwardly in front of the seat and then outwardly to the guns, two collapsible containers of a length less than the length of the ammunition boxes detachably mounted one on each side of said boxes so as to be beneath a gun and towards the rear of the boxes and means for leading the ammunition belt and spent ammunition from the outer side of each gun into the coilapsible container on the same side of the turret.

4. A gun turret for an aircraft comprising an upper circular portion, two belt-fed guns mounted in the circular portion in substantially parallel relationship one on either side thereof with sufficient space between them to accommodate the head and shoulders of a gunner and arranged to be fed each from its inner side, a rectangular platform the length of which is parallel to the plane of the guns when they are in a horizontal position and the width of which is not more than the distance between the guns, means supporting the platform from the circular portion so that it is below and between the guns, two rectangular ammunition boxes resting on the platform closely side by side and within the width of the platform, a seat for the gunner supported by the platform at a height permitting the ammunition boxes to be below the seat, means for leading an ammunition belt upwardly in front of the seat and then outwardly to the guns, two collapsible containers of a length less than the length of the ammunition boxes detachably mounted one on each side of said boxes so as to be beneath a gun and towards the rear of the boxes, means for leading the ammunition belt and spent ammunition from the outer side of each gun into the collapsible container on the same side of the turret, two brackets pivoted within the circular upper portion of the turret one on either side thereof and a torque rod interconnecting the two brackets so that they move together, said rod being of shallow U outline to conform closely to the circular contour of the 7 upper portion of the turret, said guns being FOREIGN PATENTS mounted one on' each bracket. Number Country Date LESLIE GEORGE ERISE- 673,342 France Oct. 7, 1929 784,128 France Apr. 23, 1935 REFERENCES CITED 5 785,893 France May 27, 1935 The following'references are of record in the 436,071 eat Britain J1m 5 file of this patent: 477,972 Great Britain Apr. 4, 1936 800,249 France Apr. 27, 1936 UNITED STATES PAIENTS 341,506 Italy June 27, 1936 Number Name Date 10 483,847 Great Britain Feb. 15, 1937 1,385,755 Roche July 8 1 559,478 Great Britain Dec. 7, 1933 2,186,026 Joyce Jan. 940 2,206,065 Trimbach et a1. July 2, 1940 OTHER REFERENCES 2,320,238 Horncastle May 25, 1943 Aviation Magazine, June 1943, pages 227,

2,329,308 Trotter et a1. Sept. 14, 1943 5 229, 343, by Boulton Paul Aircraft Company. 

